


Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

by orphan_account



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1943556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time in 23 years, there was a chance Hufflepuff could win the Quidditch Cup. A pair of excellent beaters, and now a reliable seeker. Abe almost felt sorry for the other houses. All Abe had to do was get Mihashi to trust him, and Hufflepuff was going to be unstoppable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

“Catch the snitch. That’s all you have to do. You catch the snitch, and I won’t let them score any goals.”

Mihashi stared at him wide eyed, tears still glistening on his eyelashes. Someone snorted, but Abe didn’t care. It was huge promise, but all that matter was that Mihashi for the first time looked like he might say yes. If he was their seeker, they might actually have a chance.

“You’re not the fastest, but you have great control and can track the snitch anywhere. With a real broom, you’ll be the best seeker Hufflepuff has had in ages.”

“I-I-I’ll…t-try.” It wasn’t the most promising start, but for the first time in 23 years, there was a chance they could win the Quidditch Cup for Hufflepuff. Despite the turn out consisting only of the fellow classmates the current members could cajole into coming, tryouts were a resounding success. Hanai had finally decided to play this year, despite calling every other year a lost cause. It took Abe all his willpower not to strangle his fellow 6th year during that time. He was sure he had Tajima to thank, as the 5th year had all but dragged Hanai to the tryouts along with Mihashi. 

A pair of excellent beaters, and now a reliable seeker. Abe almost felt sorry for the other houses, and he couldn’t help laughing. 

“Abe, stop cackling,” Hanai said as they walked back to the common room. 

“I wasn’t cackling.” Even if he was, it’s not like he was going to admit it. 

“Whatever, dude,” Hanai said waving him off taking a sitting heavily on the couch in the common room, “What kind of broom you thinking for Mihashi?”

“A Firebolt Supreme,” Mizutani said taking an armchair. 

“No way, if you’re going to go big, get a Thunderbolt VII,” Izumi said leaning over the back of the chair.

“Who’s getting a Thunderbolt VII?” Hamada asked coming down the stair from the boy’s dormitory. 

“Mihashi,” Tajima shouted drowning out both Abe and Hanai’s ‘no one’.

“What?” Hamada said eyebrows furrowing as he looked at Mihashi. “Those things are a death trap.”

Mihashi shirked away from Hamada’s panicked face, hiding behind Abe. Abe rolled his eyes and stepped to the side shaking the other boy off, “Anything would be better than that Comet he has.”

“Comet? The Comet 260 I gave you? Are you seriously still using that? Wait, does that mean you are playing this year?” Hamada asked bewildered. Mihashi flailed but nodded, at least Hamada saw a nod somewhere in there. Abe wasn’t so sure. Either way, ecstatic Hamada took Mihashi and a couple of the other new recruits upstairs to see if he any gear to loan them for practice. Abe left the room as Tajima, Hanai, Izumi and Mizutani start debating broomsticks for real, and Oki and Nishihiro started a game of exploding snaps. 

At the first practice the following week Mihashi was presented with a brand new Nimbus 2001, purchase with Momoe’s own money. Further proof they had the best Head of House, or at least the most competitive and dedicated one. The novelty soon wore off as morning practice and afternoon practice became a bit overwhelming, plus since they could only book the pitch three times a week the other practices were a lot of improvisation. The month passed with the near constant trade off of classes and practice. Most of the team was too tired to get into trouble; only October had a couple Tajima induce hiccups and one memorable Mitzutani mess. The third week of November rolled around almost too quickly. The team had come together in some ways, but Abe still hardly had a handle on their new seeker. 

The locker room never felt as small as it did right before a game. Everyone shifted restlessly, but Mihashi was in constant motion. The roar of the crowd filled the room with a wordless thrum. When Mihashi hovered near by to help with his keeper gear for the fifth time, he would have snapped if not for Tajima’s distraction.

“You can’t bewitch the lockers to play our fight song,” Hanai said making a grab for Tajima’s wand. Play wasn’t really the right word. Either Tajima was tone deaf or he was going for belching, Abe didn’t care. He appreciated the outburst as Mihashi was avidly watched the pair instead of him.

“It’s our locker room, I can do it if I want.” A thunk proceeded a startled yelp from Oki, before the belching got louder.

“No, you can’t.” Abe took a deep breath, desperately ignoring the ache forming behind his eyes. Everything was fine. The weather was perfect, they knew their plays, and Mihashi was going to catch the snitch. 

A stray jinx bounced off the locker next to him. 

Merlin’s beard, was it too late to quit? Abe slammed his locker shut and spun around, “Knock it off. You could have hit Mihashi.”

Mihashi made some sort of gesture, no doubt trying to say he was fine. But that wasn’t the point. He could have been hurt, and then who would have caught the snitch. Any chance at the Cup would be out the door. Unfortunately while Mizutani quickly tucked his wand back into his pocket, and Tajima ducked out of the Hanai imposed headlock, Mihashi went back to vibrating. What was he so nervous about? Gryffindor wasn’t particularly great this year. Even if he didn’t get along with them, they didn’t deserve this much stress. Abe’s fist clenched, maybe could shake the nervous out him.

“Uh, I think we should line up by the door. It’s just about time to take the field,” Sakaeguchi said appearing next to him.

“Aw, yeah,” Tajima said sling an arm around the now frozen seeker, and dragging him toward the doors. Hanai followed behind his fellow beater, giving Abe an apologetic shrug as he passed. 

The roar was deafening by the door, and as Hamada introduced the Gryffindor team, Mihashi looked like he was going to need the bathroom again. Luckily the doors swung open before he could scurry away, and Abe was relieved to see everyone take off. 

As Hamada read off their lineup, they made their lap around the pitch. He had thought for sure the crowd would freak their fragile seeker out, but Mihashi looked more settled on his broom. Really, the only time he ever appeared calm was in the air. As reserve players for the match Mizutani, Oki, and Nishihiro could take the pitch for introduction with them but headed to the stands as the teams faced off. 

Shinga released the balls, and there wasn’t any more time to worry. Gryffindor’s center chaser, a tall guy who hadn’t played the previous years, snatched the quaffle and headed straight for top goal. 

“Gryffidor get the quaffle, and Oda is clearly intent on scoring, but it looks like he is going to be stopped short by a beautiful hit from the Hufflepuff Beater Tajima. Oda avoided that bludger, but dropped the quaffle giving Hufflepuff possession.”

Since the play was moving the other way, Abe tried to find Mihashi but neither seeker was visible. After a blocked shot, the chaser’s once again needed his attention. Suyama’s attempted steal was held off by a bludger, and it looked like Gryffindor was going to get a shot. Izumi managed a last minute knock, causing the shot to go wide, but unfortunately it was caught by Kadota. 

“Kadota passes it up to Oda, who gets into scoring position again and—wait a minute—looks like something is going on with the seekers. It’s early, but Kanou and Mihashi are neck and neck, hard to tell who saw the snitch—“

Abe gritted his teeth, focusing on Oda who was about to throw. There was no data on this guys, so Abe wasn’t sure what he favored. Oda faked left and launched it right, but it didn’t clear Abe’s hand and he knocked it wide. Izumi caught the quaffle but wasn’t moving. Abe opened his mouth to yell at him but Hamada voice drown him out.

“Kanou darts left, but Mihashi is right on him. These two have been on a high speed race for a while now, and still no sign of the snitch. They are heading straight for the Gryffindor goal post, this could be it guys, you can really feel the tension.”

They were heading for the goal post but they were also diving, no Wronski feint, but it sure felt like it. Abe was too far way to see what happened exactly, but one minute they were diving right, and then they were pulling up almost straight into the goal posts. Mihashi narrowly wove between the post, clearly intent on something, and Abe was torn between being impressed with his control and angry at his recklessness. 

Kanou wasn’t so lucky and his broom clipped a goal post. The chasers were already halfway back across the pitch, as Kanou tumbled to the ground. Abe winced, but he was close to the ground so he should be okay. Gryffindor’s captain was clearly about to signal for a time out, when Shiga blew the whistle.

“Mihashi has done it. Hufflepuff wins: 150-0. And Kanou is standing, so looks like all is well. That was a fast game, barely twenty minutes, but a great start for Hufflepuff this season. We could really win the cup this year, I— uh— I mean a good game for Gryffindor too, a good game all around-”

Tajima tackled Mihashi in the air with such force it was a miracle they managed to land. The stands had started to swarm the pitch, and by the time he made it to the team, he found his brother clinging to Tajima’s back, as the chanted nonsense.

“Great game, Abe,” Shino’oka said as he pulled his brother off the beater. 

“Yeah,” Tajima shouted in Abe’s ear, “And Abe managed to keep his promise.”

“What promise?” Shun asked bouncing up and down eagerly, as Abe felt his face heat up. 

“Shut it,” Abe said making a grab for Tajima who darted away in to the throng. Abe turned back to Shino’oka, ignoring his brother.

Shino’oka laughed and waved him off, “Go on, I think most of the team made it to the locker. I’m looking forward to the next game.”

When Abe entered the locker room, the belching lockers were louder with the added bonus of yellow and black bubbles. Mihashi was being totted around on Hamada shoulders as most the team chanted; it would have been more touching if they had manage to chant the same thing. Their head of house appeared out of nowhere, calling for attention.

“Alright boys, congratulations on your first win.” A cheer rang out at Mome’s declaration, and the belching subsided. “Enjoy your morning off tomorrow.”

Another round of cheering followed her as she headed out, and they started changing back to their robes. After a moment Mizutani stop midway putting his robe on, he turned toward Abe sullenly. “She only said morning.”

“Yeah,” Hanai said from his other side, “She reserved the pitch for us tomorrow afternoon.”

A couple other people groaned, clearly thinking they had been getting the whole day off too. Everyone was soon filing out of the locker room in high spirits, and Abe looked around for their seeker.

“Mihashi,” Abe called watching the seeker freeze. He felt his eye twitch as the boy refused to turn around, instead he seemed to be shrinking. The rest of the team filtered out, most of them snickering.

“I’m not mad,” he growled stalking forward. Oki gave him a wide eyed look, and he schooled his face back to neutral. 

“I mean it, I’m not mad,” he tried again. Mishashi peeked up through his arms, where he was crouched. He made couple of intelligible noises, and something that vaguely sounded like ‘not’ and ‘mad’. So he went with that, “Yes, not mad.”

“W-what do you n-need, Abe?” Mihashi said finally standing, but still refusing to look at him. 

“Where were you heading?” Abe frowned as Mihashi began shaking, eyes darting everywhere but him. It wasn’t that personal of a question, was it? Honestly, it felt a little suspicious, but he didn’t know with the seeker anymore. Either way, after that reckless stunt he need to keep an on the younger seeker. 

“We should head to the kitchen, if you aren’t going anywhere. We need to make sure you take care of yourself,” he cut in when it was clear no response was coming. Mihashi finally looked at him, mouth open but no words or even sounds came out.

Abe felt his face heat up, as the seeker continued to stare. This was ridiculous, he was just reminding him that he need to eat. Seekers tend to forget that since they want to stay as light as possible, and Mihashi was already skin and bones. 

“Uh, look just make sure-“he started ready to be done with the whole situation, and stopped short when Mihashi started nodding so violently that Abe’s neck hurt.  
“I…go to…kitchen,” he said grabbing Abe’s arm. “I-is Abe hungry?” 

“Uh, sure,” he said heading toward the door. At this point he’d eat a hippogriff if he could just leave. Thankfully the locker room was empty, so no one else witnessed that exchange. Nonetheless, Mihashi seemed please, or at least less nervous as they headed back to the castle.

 

After returning from holiday, classwork became even heavier. Since the team consisted of only 5th and 6th years, they had do go down to practicing three times a week so they could all prepare for the upcoming O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, which Momoe had made clear she expected them to pass with at least E’s. Basically the old extra practice times became group study sessions. As their first game of the new year approached Abe hoped the weather would warm up quickly, but winter seemed to have its claws deep into February.

The Ravenclaw game ended up on a cloudy Saturday during the first week of March. Abe wiggled his fingers in his gloves, obscenely grateful for the warming charm Shino’oka had placed on them. An icy wind cut through the pitch causing a wild pass from one of the Ravenclaw chasers, leading to a shot by Oki. The crowd made some noise, but even the stands felt subdued. It was still early in the game, yet it felt like it was dragging. Abe glanced around spotting the seekers, lazily circling the pitch several feet above the play. Ravenclaw’s seeker looked a little lethargic, but Mihashi seemed okay. Despite being last year’s champs, they were having a rough season. Abe blocked a shot from their center chaser, and cringed remember his promise. The game was in their favor for now, but he glanced up at the darkening sky; a drawn out match was not looking good.

They had 30 point lead before things started to go south. Tajima being out was definitely starting to show; while Hanai and Suyama made a good team, Ravenclaw was getting more shots off than they should. Abe was seriously doubting a shut out by the eighth shot as they were clearly starting to figure out his range and movements. It started to snow with the ninth shot which Abe barely manage to tip off course, lightly at first but visibility was cut down. Even with the warming charm his fingers were feeling stiff, and it got colder as you go up. Abe made the mistake of glance at the seekers who were still in a holding pattern.

“Shimazaki is just about within scoring range.” Hamada’s voice pulled him back to the game but not quick enough. Unfortunately, it took him a split second too long to locate the chaser and he lunged desperately to stop quaffle that was already sailing through the air. For a moment he thought he managed to save it as his fingers brushed it, but the roar of crowd told him otherwise. Even muffled with the snow, now falling heavily, he could hear the stand chanting the Ravenclaw’s name.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sakaeguchi said passing by with the quaffle, “We’ve still got the lead.”

Abe gritted his teeth, and prayed that Mihashi would catch the snitch soon. As visibility continued to drop, the score continued to climb. After an hour and a half, the score was 60-60, and it was like playing in a bubble. Nobody even knew Mihashi had caught the snitch, until had flown over to Shiga and showed it to him at which point the game was called. Everyone made a hasty retreat back to the locker room, ready to warm up and get rid their damp uniforms.

“That looks nasty,” Oki said as he and Mizutani examined the welt forming on Izumi’s shoulder from what Abe assumed was a successful bludger. Everyone was shucking their wet clothes, and for once Tajima celebrating was actually welcomed. He charmed the lights to not only sprinkle gold and black confetti, but he turned them into heat lamps. How that kid could have gotten ‘P’ on his last transfiguration exam was beyond him. 

It didn’t take Abe, or everyone else, to notice Mihashi desperately and passively seeking Abe’s attention. He bit his tongue, and focused on packing his gear so he could collect his thoughts. Mihashi took that as dismissal and deflated before Abe could even correct him. Tajima whispered something in his ear before getting dragged out of the locker room by Izumi, and whatever it was Mihashi began looking at everywhere but Abe again. Not being watched had never felt so uncomfortable in his life. He knew he needed to address the seeker, but he wasn’t sure how. He couldn’t have Mihashi breaking down in the middle of the season. 

“Mihashi, do you want to go to the kitchen?”

And that was how the pair ended tickling pear to the kitchen some time later. As the house elves scurried about bring the usual post practice snacks, Abe was faced with an even greater problem. The walk had been quiet but the seeker had seemed fine, but no. There Mihashi sat on a chair, eyes already glassy, as he fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve.

“Are you crying?” Abe said abruptly, which may have been the wrong thing as the other boy’s eyes started leaking. 

“I’m…s-s-sorry,” he choked out, pulling up his legs and burying his head in his arms. The rest was muffled, but probably didn’t make sense anyway. 

“Don’t cry, and don’t apologize,” Abe said quickly, and even he winced at the tone of his voice. Mihashi had dissolved into soft hiccups, completely curled into himself. He tried again, careful to keep his voice level, but it did nothing to slow Mihashi’s hysterics. The house elves were starting to glare at Abe; it did probably look like he was bullying the younger boy. Frustrated, Abe reached out and grabbed Mihashi’s hand pulling his arm away from his face. Mihashi froze mid hiccup, eyes wide and face pink. His hand flex involuntary in Abe’s grip, but he made no other move.

“Your hand is freezing,” Abe said as neutrally as he could, “haven’t you warmed up at all?”

With his other hand he grabbed his wand, ignore the pang of hurt as Mihashi flinches. He had thought the bullying from the other houses had stopped, but since he was a year above him, they didn’t share any classes. He should at least trust Abe not to try anything. He loosened his grip and turned Mihashi’s hand palm up, “Here, hold out your other hand.”

He counted to ten, and just as he was about to explain himself, Mihashi hesitantly shifted to hold out his other hand. His chin rested on the knees still drawn up to his chest, but his expression look more curious than scared. 

“Do you have your gloves?” Mihashi shook his head and began to pull back his hands, but Abe still held his wrist. “It’s fine, I was just going to cast a warming charm on them.”

Instead he cast a weak hot air charm, gently pushing Mihashi’s hands together. “Rub them together, get the blood flowing.”

Mihashi started rubbing his hands under the warm air so enthusiastically, Abe thought he was going to fall out of his chair. After a few moments, Abe put his hand over Mihashi’s which felt a decidedly warmer. Despite, not wanting to ruin the good mood, Abe knew he needed to clear the air. They still had one game left, and they needed Mihashi to win. Once they won, Mihashi wouldn’t have to worry about people bullying him anymore. 

“I’m sorry,” Mihashi said softly, but clearly for once, surprising him. He grabbed Abe’s had tightly while looking at an interesting spot on the table to their left. “Y-you are so nice to me, even when I do t-terribly.”

“What are you talking about?” Mihashi hand tightened but he didn’t continue. Abe was totally lost. How did this kid’s mind even work? If he hadn’t caught the snitch, it would be one thing but he literally did his part. 

“No, seriously, what are you talking about?” Abe said, tugging on the Mihashi’s hand to get his attention. “You did everything you could.”

“I-I should h-h-have caught it faster,” he said into his knees, the stutter coming back full force.

“Mihashi, you did great. I am the one who should apologize,” Abe said, taking his turn staring at the table. He could feel Mihashi’s eyes on him, and became hyper aware that he was still holding the seeker’s hand. “I broke my promise.”

“Abe made that promise for me,” Mihashi said dropping his legs and leaning forward. That was true, and it surprised him that the seeker went along with it if he knew that. “Abe blocked many shots, and if…if—“

“No,” Abe said cutting him off, pleased but a little miffed that Mihashi didn’t seem bothered about the broken promise. It was unsettling. “We won, we did it, and we just need to focus on the last game now.”

“We-we won?” Mihashi asked eyes wide. 

“Yeah, didn’t you know?” How could he not have known? Mihashi sat frozen for a second before he launched himself at the keeper. The seeker hugged him tightly, burying his face in his neck. Abe awkwardly patted him on the back. 

“The Cup,” Mihashi said lips moving against his neck. Abe flushed, but was afraid of making Mihashi self-conscious again and it was the first time Mihashi had ever mentioned the Cup. 

“Yeah, we are still in the running for the cup,” Abe said. Mihashi pulled back suddenly, probably only just realizing what he had done. He stumbled back into his chair, clearly abashed, but fidgeting like usual. It was comforting in its own way and Abe could resist ruffling his hair fondly as he stood.  
“I want…want to win the cup,” Mihashi said with Abe’s hand resting on his head.

“Yeah,” Abe said, struck by how much he wanted to win the cup for the nervous boy before him. 

That desire to win compelled him pour over old games. Over the next week it was all he could think about until Hanai, cornered him in the library one day, “Shouldn’t you leave some of the strategizing to the captain?”

Abe ignored him until he sat down across from and pulled the notebook away, “What is this?”

“The shooting pattern for the chaser’s from last year,” Abe said reaching for the book. Hanai held the book back, and rested his head on his hand fixing Abe with concerned look.

“You do realize that you are not the only one on this team,” Hanai said disregarding Abe’s frustrated growl. 

“Yeah, but Mihashi—“

“Mihashi is fine, how does any of this have anything to do with Mihashi?” 

“I have to keep the score down so that he—“

“Dude,” Hanai said tossing the book back. “You need to keep the score down so that we keep our point lead for the Cup. Have you even been paying attention to Mihashi lately? He’s been doing great.”

He stood up mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ‘have a little faith’, before wandering off leaving Abe to take the flak from the librarian. He settled back down with his notes after she left. Faith was nice, but had little substance without preparation. That was why he needed to be reliable for Mihashi. Much to Hanai’s chagrin Abe continued his extra studying, unfortunately it appeared that he wasn’t the only one when the Slytherin game finally came around the following week. 

“The score is still 30-0, Slytherin’s lead.”

Hamada was a nice guy, but Abe really wanted to strangle him. He didn’t need to be reminded of the score. The Slytherin’s had really done their homework; every shot was to the places he hate. On top of that, he was worried about how being down this early was going to affect Mihashi. He caught a glimpse of the seekers flitting about and he gritted his teeth. Mihashi dove with reckless abandon.

“He’s fine,” Izumi said as Sakaeguchi snatched the quaffle from an opposing chaser. “He can take care of himself you know.”

“I know,” he snapped back but the chaser was already down the pitch. Mihashi could take of himself, but he would put everyone and everything else first. That’s why he need to keep the score down so that he wouldn’t feel pressured to be so rash. 

“Slytherin is coming back, some great maneuvering by Suyama there, but Slytherin is still in possession.” Izumi went for a feint creating an opening for Sakaeguchi to attempt a steal, which even if it failed would force them to the lower ring giving Abe a nice advantage. He got into position, eyes locked on the quaffle. Slytherin wasn’t going to score again.

Kurata must have noticed the plan too as the opposing beater launched a bludger at Sakaeguchi. It worked, as Sakaeguchi was forced out of position to avoid the incoming ball, which meant the shot was going happen. 

“Abe, watch it!” Tajima’s voice sounded far away as he stretch to block the shot. He didn’t feel the impact until he batted the quaffle away. His broom jerked with a sickening crack, though it didn’t break. Already leaning too far right, his other hand slipped off sending swing under his spiralling broom. Belatedly he thought of the goal post, but he was already too disoriented to even know which way was up, let alone away from the post.

The impact of the post didn’t seem as jarring as the initial bludger. A sharp splitting pain in the side of his head, and then everything went fuzzy. He vaguely realized that he must be free-falling as he gazed up at the clouds. The last thing he thought he saw was Mihashi descending from the sky, before his vision went black. 

 

He was falling, weightless, the sky above him—lazy clouds drifting as the ground rushed to meet him. Abe woke with a start, sending a nasty pain radiating from his temple. Groaning, he clutch his head, struggling to remember what happened.

“Don’t do that,” someone said before gently taking his hands from his head, and gently guiding him back to the bed. Lying down definitely felt better, he thought, cracking open an eye. The hospital wing was dark, which meant it was night. His Head of House stood over him smiling, though she still looked concerned. 

“The game,” he croaked out. At this point he wasn’t sure if he hoped it was over or still going. If he was in the hospital wing, he obviously was out of the game which meant he left the team without a keeper. 

“Don’t worr—“

“Is it over?” Momoe’s eyes narrowed as he cut her off.

“Yes, but you should be resting,” she said firmly and forestalled any argument with her hand. “You are lucky Hanai was close enough to catch you or you would have more than just a severe concussion.”

“Wh—“

“The team was here most of the day, but I just sent them away as it’s after curfew, and I certainly don’t want them to lose us any points for being out of bed after hours.” She hand handed him a water, which he sipped gingerly. With one more reminder to rest, she left him in the quiet wing. Not even a minute after the door clicked, Abe heard a familiar voice as the door clicked open again.

“See, I told you he was going to wake up soon,” Tajima whispered far too loudly. 

“You’re too loud, someone’s going to hear us.” That was definitely Izumi. The voices became hard to hear, probably as someone (probably Nishihiro) cast a muffling charm.

“Go Mihashi, we’ll keep watch,” he could just make out Hanai before the door clicked again. He couldn’t hear any footstep, but could picture Mihashi standing in front of the door staring at the floor like it could take the steps for him.

“Mihashi,” Abe called softly, and winced at the thunk of Mihashi dropping his wand. Abe watched Mihashi’s silhouette approach before the boy froze just behind the curtain. It didn’t take as long as he expected for him to drawn the curtain back. Mihashi looked like he was going to be sick, before his eyes snapped to the ground. Even in the dark, he could see the tears gathering in his eyes. 

“Hey,” Abe said startling Mihashi, and for once the flinching didn’t make him angry. He felt too drained, too tired, to feel more than a desire for other boy to stop crying. And maybe be closer, “Come here.”

Mihashi didn’t move, so Abe closed his eyes, waiting. He cracked his eyes open when he heard the first tentative step, and watch Mihashi creep forward. His hand reached out as if too grab Abe’s hand, before jerking back to his chest. 

“I’m fine,” Abe said holding his hand out, which Mihashi immediately latched on to tightly, hands ice cold. “What happened?”

Knowing it would take a bit, he closed his eyes again, unconsciously rubbing the back of Mihashi’s hand with his thumb. Surprisingly, Mihashi spoke quickly and clearly.

“You fell.” Abe’s hand clenched drawing a whimper from the other boy as his eyes snapping open. He wondered how long it was going to before he could hear about it without the phantom feel of weightless making his stomach clench.

“Sorry,” he mumbled loosening his grip. Mihashi shook his head so violently, Abe’s head throbbed. “What happened after?”

Did we win? He couldn’t get those words out, and the look on Mihashi’s face wasn’t helping. He once again refused to meet Abe’s eyes. “Hanai caught you, and called for a time out.”

“How many goals did they score?” he asked after a deep breath. After play resumed, there would have been nothing to stop a shot once they were within shoot range. Mihashi bit his lip, and shook his head. “How many, Mihashi?”

“F-fourteen.” Abe’s heart sank. That would mean that were up to 170 points without even catching the snitch. 

“We lost, didn’t we?” He asked suddenly feeling empty and spent. Any hope seeped out with each tiny nod of Mihashi’s head.

“I c-caught the snitch,” Mihashi said quietly, “but we lost 160 to 170.”

Abe closed his eyes, but the tears came anyway. He threw his arm, the one not attached to Mihashi, over his face. Mihashi had done everything. He caught the snitch in every game.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, fighting the awful churning in his stomach and the tightness in his chest. He could hear Mihashi mumbling, but it wasn’t until he felt the insistent tugging at the arm over his eyes that he pulled himself together.

“Don’t,” Mihashi said pulling Abe’s arm down, “Don’t.”

Abe wasn’t sure if he meant cry or be sorry, but the way Mihashi was looking at him made him feel more unsettled. He looked calm, the way he did when he was on his broom. He had moved to sit on the bed, hand still holding Abe’s, though considerably warmer.

“It’s okay,” Mihashi said. It wasn’t okay, and the fact the Mihashi believed that it was made the guilt even harder to swallow. Mihashi had wanted to win, he had worked hard for it, to prove himself.

“No, it’s not. We are going to lose the cup and I wanted—“Abe’s throat closed up again, and it was his turn to look away at the wall. 

“It’s okay because--” Mihashi said again more firmly but stopped as Abe sat up. Despite the pain, his anger finally starting to burn. Mihashi looked uncertain for the first time, but didn’t pull back.

“We could have done it, we could have won,” he bit out as fresh tears burned behind his eyes, “We could have shown everyone that we were the best—that you were the best. I wanted to win the cup for you! For us—I…” I wanted everyone to know that I had the best seeker. I wanted to show everyone how great we were. 

As he stared into Mihashi’s surprised face, he realized just how much he wanted to win. Winning the cup had felt like the answer. It would have proved to the other house that Hufflepuff wasn’t a joke. It would have proven to Mihashi that he was good seeker. It would have proved that Abe had been right, not just to everyone, but to Abe himself too. Abe’s hand tightened as the dawning realization that Mihashi never needed the Cup. Not like Abe did.

“You just wanted to win for me and the team, didn’t you?” Abe said quietly, “It was never about the cup.”

He knew he was right when Mihash’s hand tense, but the seeker answered softly. “I wanted to win the Cup, but I want to be able to play with Abe more. It’s okay because you are alright.”

He let go of Mihashi’s hand for the first time that night, and pulled the boy into an awkward hug.

“You’re right,” he mumbled into Mihashi’s shoulder. His head was really starting to throb, and instead of letting go he pulled Mihashi down with him. The other boy let out a surprised squeak. It was okay, at least for now. He had said it was all for Mihashi, but Mihashi had long accepted his role. Abe was the one who struggle to find what he needed. All this time he’d been asking Mihashi to trust him, it was only fair to have a little faith in him return.

“Don’t go,” Abe said already drifting off. As long as Mihashi was there, he could figure it out. Besides, there was always next year. 

When the rest of the team snuck in, they found the two boys curled together, fast asleep. Sakaeguchi bewitched an old keychain to act as an alarm so Mihashi could sneak out without getting in trouble and in the morning when the pair awoke to a shrill whistle, they also found a note hastily scrawled by Hanai.

_I did the math—we're still in the lead 520 to 510._

Mihashi did end up get in trouble since he didn’t fall out of the bed very quietly when he read the note. Still as Abe watched Mihashi get scolded, the idea of winning the cup didn’t feel as great of an accomplishment as the small smile on Mihashi face when he was sent out of the hospital wing. Maybe he didn’t need to figure anything else out. Mihashi seemed to have it under control.


End file.
